Lunch at Luella's BBQ

After leaving the Grove Park Inn, we decided to stop for lunch. Luckily I had picked up a brochure that had a lot of places to eat in Asheville. Always liking BBQ we decided to stop at Luella's BBQ (http://www.luellasbarbeque.com/) not far from the Grove Park Inn. We ordered pulled pork plates. The plates we heaped with bbq, so much we had to take some home for lunch the next day. The food was very good and they served a vinegar style cole slaw. All in all, good service, good food and a nice atmosphere.

Asheville, NC- Biltmore Estate and Grove Park Inn

Today we headed to Asheville, NC, to hang around downtown Asheville and then go to the Biltmore Estate Candlelight event. On our way to Asheville at about Waynesville and all the way up to Asheville there appeared to have been a considerable amount of snowfall. The mountain tops and sides not facing the sun were still covered with snow. Just seeing the snow gets you in the holiday spirit. Arriving in Asheville we decided to walk down Biltmore St. to Broadway St. and look at various shops. This street along with others in the vicinity, have a number of small independent shops to peruse. We also went into the Grove Arcade shopping pavilion (www.grovearcade.com), located at 1 Page Avenue, where there are a number of independent shops. Grove Arcade was a nice place to visit due to the inclement weather, since all of the shops can be entered from inside the arcade building and you don’t have to go in and out of the weather to visit each shop. It’s more like a shopping mall concept. After looking around a good bit we decided to hit a local place for lunch. We chose the Early Girl Eatery (www.earlygirleatery.com) on Wall St. The food was very good and consisted of vegetarian fare, as well as standard offerings of hamburgers. I had a pan fried trout, which was very good.

We left the downtown area and checked into our overnight accommodations at the Grove Park Inn (www.groveparkinn.com) located on Macon Ave. This inn is on the National Historic Hotels registry and was built in 1912 as a resort and spa. There have been numerous well known historical figures that have stayed in the Inn, including eight U.S. Presidents, F. Scott Fitzgerald, George Gershwin and Harry Houdini, to name a few. Fitzgerald spent two summers at the inn, 1935 and 1936. The lobby contains two fireplaces large enough for a person to almost stand up in. The vista from the outside deck is of the Blue Ridge Mountain range in the distance and at this time there was snow on the sides and tops of the mountains. The inn has amenities too numerous to detail in this blog. During the Christmas Holidays, they also have on display the National Gingerbread House competition entries. These are not your regular looking gingerbread houses, they are works of art. Making them more unbelievable is the fact that all of the display must be edible. The Grand Prize Winner was the bird cage looking one.

In the evening we headed to our 7:30 pm visit to the Biltmore Estate

candlelight viewing (www.biltmore.com) . I’ve been to the Biltmore Estate a number of times from the 1970’s to present, but this was the first time I’ve seen it by candlelight and with the Christmas decorations.

The main banquet hall had a “real” frazier fir tree that was about 25 to 30 feet tall and elaborately decorated. Unfortunately they do not allow any photos to be taken of the interior. Something new since the last time I was there was a display showing how they had restored the Louis XVI room. The wall covering they had reproduced in Lyon, France, was incredible. There were Christmas trees in most rooms, as well as decorations and either candles or battery operated tea lights. A most amazing place, whether you visit it during the Christmas season or other times of the year.

We returned to the Grove Park Inn after viewing the Biltmore. Our room was a very cozy room with built-in dresser drawers, robes in the closet and mission style furniture in the room.

Located on the inn property was an automobile museum and a very

impressive art gallery called Grovewood Galleries (www.grovewood.com) . The gallery has all types of handmade goods from jewelry to furniture. The most impressive woodworking I've seen combined in one place. Most of the furniture was of the Mission Style vintage.

We had a very pleasant stay. We left Asheville and headed to our remote cabin location.

Fabulous Great Smoky Mountain trip

Today we took a drive up through the Nantahala Gorge to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I anticipated a heavy volume of traffic and there was a lot of traffic. It actually worked out nicely to have so much traffic because we ended up going about 3 to 5 mph. This gave us plenty of time to view all of our surroundings without whizzing by at 35 mph. Our first stop was at the Sugarlands Visitor Center at the park entrance not far from Gatlinburg, TN. We took Little River Road to a stop at Laurel Falls trail. This is a 1.3 mile hike up the mountain on a nicely maintained path. The falls are really spectacular, in that you are right at the base of the falls when you cross a small bridge. The water flows beneath the bridge and falls probably 50 - 60 feet. We ventured up the mountain past the falls into an area that had some very large tulip poplars. This was supposed to be part of a virgin forest. I can tell you some of those trees were pretty tall and I would estimate about 100 feet. We didn't hike the entire trail into the woods because it was another three miles. We headed down the trail and at a point below the falls, observed four black bears. A mother and two baby cubs and across the trail on the higher part of the trail was another large black bear. The leaves throughout the park on the Tennessee side were some of the nicest I had seen and the drive through the park was spectacular. In the morning the Tennessee side had a heavy blanket of fog, but returning in the afternoon the fog had lifted. The North Carolina side was not as impressive because most of the leaves had already fallen. We exited the park and drove back through the Nantahala Gorge to the cabin.

Rainy day but great

Today (31 Oct) we ventured out in the rain. Our travels took us to Franklin through the Nantahala Forest on Hwy 64. Once in Franklin we decided to eat at a place called Caffe Rel. We had eaten there before and it was just as good this time, as it was in previous times. The complimentary pesto with bread was very good. The flat chips accented the fabulous sandwiches. Don’t let the fact that it is attached to the Hot Spot gas station fool you, this is some good food and service is excellent. After porking up, we left for Clayton, GA, and ventured into the Black Rock Mountain State Park. The views are very nice from this park and they have cabins that can be rented. After leaving Black Rock Mountain State Park we traveled to Tiger Mountain Winery and did a sample of their wines. Enjoyed the wine tasting and then traveled via Hwy 76 to Mercier Orchards and picked up some Pink Lady apples. The leaves on Hwy 76 were at peak and very pretty.

Planning doesn't always work

Well, I sat down this morning and planned my route for a day of leaf viewing. I decided that I could probably get the best leaf viewing in by heading to Franklin, NC, driving to Wayesville, NC then taking I-40 to Tennessee and coming through the Great Smoky Mountains Park via 441 through the middle of the park. I found some really nice color all the way up through Wayesville, where I found some stunning trees. The route to Franklin through the Nantahala Forest was very pretty in spots, but it appeared there were large areas of Tulip Poplar and River Birch that had already peaked. The Hickory and Maples were pretty nice though. As I entered the city limits of Dillsboro I crossed a bridge and noticed a little spillway, so I decided to see what that was all about. I exited the main highway and entered a nice little park with picnic tables right on the river. There was this spillway on the river and it was a pretty nice and quiet spot for a picnic.

I left the little park and traveled up to Waynesville, where I decided to get gas and something to eat. Since this was on a sunday there weren't many places open and I had to get a bite to eat at one of those fast food places. There was a restaurant named Clyde's that I was told was good food, but I didn't really want to stop and do a sit down lunch. I did take a couple of photo's of trees in Waynesville that were pretty stunning. I left Waynesville via Hwy 276 to tie into I-40 and cross over to Tennessee on the north side of the Great Smoky Mountains Park. As I approached the entrance to I-40 a big truck was across the road and several guys were there telling people that they couldn't get on I-40. There had been a rock slide and part of the mountain had fallen across all four lanes of the interstate. Traffic was backed up from Asheville to who knows where. I tried to persuade one of the guys directing traffic to let me go down to see the rock slide, but that didn't really work out. So at this point my plans changed, because the only other way to where I was going was to go to Asheville then go north to Johnson City, TN, and back down to where I was going (about two hours).So I went back toward Waynesville and I noticed a sign that said Cataloochee (which is part of the Great Smoky Mountains Park). I took this road which winds around for about seven miles to the park entrance. From the park entrance the road become a forest service road, unpaven and with gravel in places. For the most part this is one of those roads that you can only go about 5 - 10 mph due to the narrow road and many sharp curves. There were a lot of people on this road including a couple of guys that must not have read the info about traveling this road. One guy was in a corvette and the other was in a mercedez sports coupe with the top down. I'm in a truck and dust is flying all over the place, I know these guys needed a major shower by the time they got out of there. It so happens that there are two entrances into Cataloochee, one is a 27 mile drive, mostly gravel, from Cosby, NC, and the other is an 11 mile route partly paved. Lucky me, I got on the shorter route (it did help to have my maps and GPS though). After traveling through the forest service road I came to a nice overlook with some long range beautiful views. I spoke with a woman that had been to the Cataloochee valley below, in the morning, and she told of seeing elk and a bear with her cub. I ventured down into the valley and ended up at the site of an exhibit called Palmer House. There was a barn and a house with a couple of other buildings. Across the street was a nice little river flowing through the property. I took a picture of the river and the outbuildings. After viewing this site I traveled the approx. 10 miles by forest service road out of the park. The leaves were very colorful and about peak. I decided to return to the cabin via a different route, so I traveled down Hwy 19 through Maggie Valley, where I photographed another stunning tree. This route took me through the Cherokee Indian Reservation. On my way through the reservation, I noticed a couple of old motel signs. Since I like these old remnants of the past I stopped to take pictures. The motels are no longer open and now the Harrah's Casino and Hotel has taken their place. I followed Hwy 19 and as I crossed the Little Tennessee River I decided it was worth stopping for another photo. Traveling on Hwy 19 took me through the Nantalaha Gorge, which is a very pretty place regardless of the time of year. There weren't any kyakers on the river at this time (about 5:20pm). I traveled back to the cabin through Andrews and a back road. All along the way the leaves were very pretty and not yet peak. Altogether my trip was about 219 miles. This was a considerable distance, but I haven't gotten this opportunity too often. It was well worth the trip and the scenery was really great.

Rainy indoor day

I spent most of the day inside, since the weather was rainy and overcast. On my trip to Lowe's and Walmart, I did observe some pretty nice color. I took this one photo of a maple tree off the back of my deck.

Back in the Mountains

I returned to the cabin on 20 Oct. The weather has been very pleasant so far, averaging around 75 degrees during the daytime. The leaves are what I would consider to be low color in Murphy right now. I expect that as I travel to the higher elevations, I might see some near peak colors, however, I don't think the peak will hit Murphy until some time next week or thereafter. I've been staying close to the cabin so far, so don't have much to show you yet. I'll post pictures soon.

Fires Creek and Jackrabbit Mountain

The weather was really pleasant today (72 degrees at 12 noon). I traveled to a park that I've been to before called Fires Creek. It is in the Nantahala National Forest and consists mostly of a picnic area and trails that can take you about 28 miles, if you wish to go that far. Being a little lazy, I chose not to go that far and only went to the end of the river trail that ended at the river. Since I didn't want to get wet, I didn't cross to go across the river. The park has picnic tables and borders a nice stream, as well as a small waterfall. The trail I took had tables along the river and the forest was very dense. There wasn't anyone at this park when I walked the trail. It was very quiet, except for the stream that flows next to the trail. As you can tell from the photo of the rocks, the water is perfectly clear. A very tranquil walk indeed.

I left the picnic area and traveled up the forest service road for about six miles. This was basically a forest service road with gravel. Over the six miles I traveled at about 10 mph, the river could be heard all along the way. This was a road that had a canopy of trees over it and most of it did not have any sunlight showing through the canopy. I did encounter one small waterfall coming off of the mountain, but most of the road consisted of highly dense forest. There is a place off of the road for people that want to camp with their horses, it's called Bristol Camp. There were only a couple of campsites taken, but a very large horse trailer on the site. After looking at my GPS, I decided that the road I was traveling ended in the forest after several miles and so I decided to return back down to Fires Creek.

I left Fires Creek and ended up at Jackrabbit Mountain, a park run by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. Most of the park entrances were closed, except for the boat launch site. There are nice views of the Chatuge Lake from most places in this park. The park consists of a day use area, a mountain bike trail, hiking trails and campsites. I decided to leave this area and head back to the cabin. Along my way I did stop and photograph a barn that was not too long for the world.

Ocoee Whitewater River Rafters

River rafting on the Ocoee River at the Ocoee Whitewater Center, site of the 1996 Olympics.

NC Winery and Vineyard GPS coordinates

For anyone interested in the North Carolina Winery GPS coordinates for your GPS unit, I have them available for purchase. This database includes the vineyards and wineries located within the State of North Carolina. If you're just interested in one particular winery or vineyard, let me know, and I can give you the coordinates. Part of the money for this database will be donated to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

John C. Campbell Folk School Fall Festival

Today I embarked on my annual pilgrimage to the John C. Campbell Folk School Fall Festival that runs from 3 Oct to 4 Oct. It's located at Brasstown, NC, GPS coordinates N35degrees02.256 W83degrees57.696. Upon my arrival it became obvious that I wasn't the only one that had this idea. I don't know how may people were there, but it was kinda like a mini Woodstock. As I entered the area to pay my $5 cover charge, there was a band playing on the stage called "Beulah Land Gospel Band". They were playing some very nice accoustic sets of bluegrass music. I wandered further up the venue after watching the band and started on my journey to view the various art vendor displays. There were so may really good artists at this show, it is well worth the visit to see their crafts. Most of the crafts are not on the level of "Crafts stuff", these people are really artisans and I've previously purchased stuff for the cabin from a couple of them. One display I found very interesting was the guy that made his own knives (Mike Wilson) from Hayesville, NC. He has a website wilsoncustomknives.blademakers.com. In listening to him talk with another guy, he said that if a person was interested in learning the trade they could apprentice with him, but he didn't pay. A lady I talked with about her fabric display, told me of the process she uses to create her fabrics, which involve several steps and various paint put onto fabric and left in the sun. Her designs are mostly flowers and ferns. Some very interesting stuff. There were 104 juried exhibitors and 127 non-juried exhibitors. That didn't include all of the food stands, and yes they had funnel cakes. On the Festival Barn Stage they had a group called "Buzzard Mountain Boys" playing some pretty nice bluegrass also. A lady by the name "Dawn Gabrielli" from Murphy, NC, had some nice baskets and short benches made from wood and with woven seats.There were just too many exhibitors to show their exhibits on this blog. Throughout the area were people demonstrating various crafts, like pottery throwing, wood bowl turning, weaving, figure carving and others. At one point while watching the potter turn a bowl, a young girl asked, "Have you ever just torn up a bowl after you made it, just for the heck of it". The guy replied no not really, but you can tear up one if you want and he gave her a bowl he had turned so she could crush it. She seemed pretty content with destroying the pottery piece. After viewing all of the exhibits I returned to the cabin to rest up. Good thing I did because it started sprinkling.